Meat packaging machine



'May 14, 1963 $089,554

T. A. WATSON MEAT PACKAGING MACHINE Filed May 13. 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1[aw-afar 77/0/7175 14 M750 30mg @nGZi-JL 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 15.1960 United States Patent ()fifice Patented May 14-, 1%63 3,089,554 MEATPACKAGlNG MACHINE Thomas A. Watson, Barrington, lill., assignoito E. W.Kncip, inc, Forest Park, 11]., a corporation of Illinois Filed May 13,was, Ser. No. 283% 1 Claim. (Cl. 177-52) This invention relatesgenerally to material handling apparatus and more particularly toapparatus for packaging material.

Material handling is an important part of almost any business whichdeals with a tangible product. It plays a very important role in foodproduct businesses including the meat business. While improvements inmaterial hand-ling are constantly being made, the oftentimes competingconsiderations of efficiency, dependability, and durability versuseconomy, and the great variations in the specific job to be done, havecontributed to a situation wherein the existing material handlingapparatus will not always be the most satisfactory for the job. Forexample, when handling meat, 2. high value food which is generally quitebulky as well as perishable, strong durable material handling apparatuswhich will operae quickly and efiiciently and which can be efiectivelykept clean and sanitary, is required.

Accordingly, the prime object of this invention is to provide aneificient apparatus for material handling. Another object is to providea convenient and durable carrier for use in such apparatus. Stillanother object is to provide an improved filling sleeve or bagging spoutfor use in such an apparatus.

A more specific object is to provide an improved apparatus for packagingfood products. A further specific object is to provide an improvedapparatus for weighing food products as an incident to the packagingthereof.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from a consideration of the following description andaccompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a meat weighing and packaging apparatusembodying various features of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a side sectional view of the apparatus shown in FIGURE 1,taken along line 2-2. of that figure and showing an unfilled bag and itscarrier positioned on the weighing section of the track;

FIGURE 3 is a front view, (partially broken away) of a portion of theapparatus, including the weighing section of the track;

FlGURE 4 is a front view (partially broken away) of a portion of theapparatus, including an unfilled bag, its associated sleeve and carrier,and the weighing section of the track;

FIGURE 5 is a sectional side view of a portion of the apparatus takenalong line 5 5 of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of a modified embodiment showing aportion of the upper support rail and means to support the carrier onit;

FEGURE 7 is a perspective view of the modification shown in FIGURE 6,showing a portion of the carrier and a portion of the means supportingit on the upper support rail.

Briefly, the prefer-red embodiment, shown in FIGURES 1 through 5 of thedrawings, is in the form of a meat packaging apparatus ill whichcomprises a track 12 and a carrier 14 which is supported for movementalong the track -12. The track has a stationary section 15 and arelatively movable weighing section 16 which is connected to a weightindicator 36. In operation, the carrier 14 is moved onto the weighingsection 16, filled with meat 19 until the desired amount registers onthe weight indicator 36, and then moved oil the weighing section 16.

More particularly, as shown in FIG. 1, the apparatus it) has a closedcircuit in the form of generally ovalshaped track 12, which includes twovertical monorails, in this instance an upper support rail 22 and alower guide rail 24. While the preferred embodiment of the track 12 isan oval, other configurations such as a circle or a straight line couldalso be used. The upper support rail 22 describes a proportionallysmaller oval than the lower guide rail 24- and is disposed so as to beparallel to but inwardly of the guide rail 24 along the entire length ofthe track 12,. The purpose of having the support rail 22 inwardly of theguide rail 24 will be discussed in detail below.

The rails 22 and 2.4, respectively, comprise fixed sections 22a and 24aand relatively movable weighing sections 22b and 24b. The fixed orstationary rail sections 22a and 24a are secured to a stationary frame20 and comprise the stationary or fixed track section E5. The frame Zllis made of angle members, plates, and the like. The relatively movableor depressible weighing rail sections 22b and 24b which comprise theweighing section 16 of the track, are secured to an upright plate 26 bysuitable brackets 28.

In the illustrated embodiment, the plate 26 is supported upon thevertically movable or depressible weighing platform 32 of a Toledo-typeweighing device or scale 18 that is secured to the frame 2% and has alarge dial weight indicator 36. The plate 26 is secured in an uprightposition on the weighing platform 32 and reinforced by a pair of uprightangle members 37 and a pair of horizontal angle members 38 which areattached to it and to the platform 32 by suitable fasteners 39. Thehorizontal angle members 38, which extend across the weighing platform32, thus serve to distribute the weight carried by the plate 26 over thesurface of the platform 32. Anti-friction guide rollers 40 mounted onthe frame ill aid in maintaining the plate 26 in the proper uprightposition while offering little resistance to its vertical movement. Theplate so should be positioned so that the movable rail sections 225 and2417 which it carries will be sufiiciently aligned with the fixed railsections 22a and 24a to allow the carrier 14 to move between theweighing section lid and the fixed section 15 of the track 12.

When the carrier means 14- is moved onto the weighing section 16 oftrack 12 and loaded with meat 19, the weight of the load of meat will betransmitted through the plate 26 to the weighing plat-form 32 of theweighing device 18, causing the platform 32 to move downwardly slightlyand, thus, register the weight on the weight indicator as. It should benoted that while the weighing track section 16 moves with the weighingplatform 32, the amount of movement is normally slight so that thedisplacement of the weighing rail sections 22]) and 24b with respect tothe fixed rail sections 22a and is also slight.

Secured to the frame 2% of the illustrated apparatus are one or morehorizontal shelves or trays 42 upon which some of the meat 19 to bepackaged is placed prior to being needed. The remainder of the meat 19is brought to a platform or table 44 adjacent the weighing track section16 by suitable conveyor means (not shown).

The carriers 14 of the preferred embodiment each cornprise anopen-faced, basket or receptacle 46, seen best in FIGURES 4 and 5, andmeans to support the basket 46 on the outside of the track 12 formovement along it. For the sake of simplicity, a single carrier 14 willbe thereinafter described, it being understood that a number of carriers14 may be used in a single apparatus 10 and that what is said is equallyapplicable to any other carriers used in the apparatus. The illustratedopen-faced basket or receptacle 46 has a generally rectangular rear wall43 and a bottom wall 50 having a V-shaped cross-section as viewed fromthe side. Two side walls 52. are secured to the rear wall 48 and thebottom wall 50 and are tapered rearwardly toward the top of the basket46. The bottom wall 50 and the lower parts of the side walls 52 form aV-shaped recess or cavity 53 at the bottom of the basket 46.

A pair of rollers or pulleys 54, one pulley being located adjacenteither side of the basket 46, are rotatably mounted on the rear of eachbasket near its top. The pulleys 54 are located with their axesextending generally perpendicularly to the rear Wall 48 of the basket46. The center portions 56 of the pulleys 54 roll along the upper edgeor" the support rail 22, thereby supporting the basket 46 for movementalong that rail 22, while the flanges 58 of the pulleys provideshoulders on either side of the rail 22 to maintain the pulley 54 atopthe rail 22. The center portions 56 of the pulleys 54 should have alarge enough diameter to roll readily between the fixed rail section 22aand the movable weighing rail section 2217 when the sections of the rail22 are vertically displaced from one another by the slight verticalmovement of the weighing track section 16.

Mounted at either side of the lower end of the rail wall 48 of thebasket 46 is a guide means or element preferably in the form of acontact ball 60. The contacts 60 are positioned so as to provide lowfriction rolling engagement with the vertical outer surface of the lowerguide rail 24 as the basket 46, supported on the upper support rail 22,moves around the track 12. The two contacts 60, cooperate with the lowerguide rail 24, to form guide means for the basket.

In the illustrated apparatus, as described above, the upper support rail22 is disposed inwardly of the lower guide rail 24- so that the basket46, supported at its upper end on the upper rail 22, has its lower endheld outwardly relative to its upper end. The tendency of that lower endto swing inwardly holds contacts 60 against the lower rail 24,maintaining the basket 46 in a stable condition during its movement.

The basket 46 is free to move in any direction relative to the guiderail 24 and there is substantially no resistance to the movement of thebasket 46 along the track 12. The lower guide rail 24 may besufiicient-ly wide in the vertical direction to allow for verticalmovement of the contacts 6% due to variation in the spacing of rails 22and 24 with respect to one another. The width of the rail 24 may alsocompensate for minor differences in the construction of differentbaskets 46.

In the preferred embodiment the basket 46 holds a container or bag 62 inwhich the meat '19 is packaged. The bag 62, which is closed at thebottom and open at the top, may be of any desired material suitable forpackaging meat, such as kraft paper preferably combined with aconventional water-resistant sheet or coating. The illustrated bag 62 issupported and maintained open to receive the meat 19 by a sleeve 64. Thesleeve 64 is made of substantially rigid material such as metal, hardplastic or the like, and has a rectangular crosssection and a flared top65 providing a funnel to facilitate filling the bag 62. The sleeve 64 ishung from the top of the basket '46 by means of a hook such as adownwardly curved tab 66 which is fixed to the top of the sleeve 64 andwhich hooks over the upper edge of the rear wall 43 of the basket 46.The sleeve 64 hangs downwardly, the lower end of the sleeve 64 hearinginwardly against the rear wall 48 of the basket 46. In the preferredembodiment, the bag 62' fits rather snugly around the sleeve 64 and isyieldingly held up on the sleeve 64 by friction, though other suitablemeans for yieldingly supporting the bag 62 might be used. Yieldingsupport is preferable as it allows the load of the meat 19 put into thebag 62-, rather than tearing the bag, to pull it downwardly, ifnecessary, until it is supported at the bottom of the basket 46.

The illustrated sleeve 64 does not extend downwardly to the bottom ofthe basket 46, making it easier to remove the sleeve after the bag isfilled. The V-shaped recess 53' at the bottom of the basket 46 limitsthe expansion of the bottom part of the bag 62, which extends below thesleeve 64, so that the sleeve need not extend all the way into the bag.The recess 53 and the sleeve 64, thus, cooperate to prevent the bottomof the bag 62 from bulging, and to produce a generally proportionatedistribution of the meat 19 within the bag.

The V-shaped recess 53 and open front construction of the basket 46facilitate its efiective operation. The open front of the basket 46allows for easily unloading the filled bags 62 and the sleeve 64-, andloading the empty bag and the sleeve onto the basket. The V-shapedrecess 53 prevents the bottom of the bag from becoming jammed in thebasket 46 when the bag 62 is filled, while helping to maintain the bagin the proper shape as described above.

The operation of the illustrated appmatus may now be clearly understood.A sleeve 64 is inserted in a bag, and placed in a basket 46. The basket,carrying the sleeve and bag, in due course moves onto the weighingsection 16 of the track 12 (room having been made for it). The tareweights of all of the baskets 46, the unfilled bags 62, and the sleeves64 are uniform so that the weight indicator 36 of the weighing device18, after having once been adjusted to Zero for the total tare weight,correctly indicates the net weight of meat 19 put into the bag. Theoperator puts the meat 19 from the trays 42 and the table 44 into theunfilled bag 62, until the desired weight is shown on the weightindicator 36. As the pieces of meat 19 may be of various sizes, thelarge, readily visible, dial weight indicator 36 enables the operator towatch the progress of the filling operation and select the right sizepiece of meat to bring the total to the desired amount. In the operationof the desired apparatus, about eighty pounds of meat are put into eachbag 62,. After the bag 62 is filled, the basket 46 is moved along thetrack 12, off of the weighing track section 16, and another basket withan unfilled bag is moved onto it. The sleeve is then removed from thefilled bag. Before the filled bag is removed from the basket, the openmouth of the filled bag is then closed by suitable means preferably bysewing. The basket can accommodate a wide variety of bags and sleevesmade for different loads. In addition, for larger variations, the basketitself may be changed, and for smaller variations, the amount of .theproduct put into the bag may simply be varied.

If desired, the carrier support means may be modified as shown in FIGS.6. and 7. As shown in FIG. 6, an upper support rail 76', made in agenerally boxshaped cross-section, has a central longitudinal slot 72 inits lower wall. The edges of the slot 72 are turned upwardly to providea pair of internal runways 74 which support four wheeled trolleys 76,two wheels of each trolley being disposed in each runway. A pair of thetrolleys 76 support a basket 78, one trolley being secured to eitherside of the basket. As seen in FIG. 7, each trolley 76 has a downwardlyextending hook 80 which engages a loop 82 secured to the basket 78 by abracket 84.

Thus, an improved apparatus is presented, which, in continuousoperation, provides means to place and maintain a container in aconvenient position to be filled, indicates when that container issufiiciently full, and then provides means to move the filled containerto a position where it can be conveniently and easily removed from theapparatus. Parts of the apparatus are readily disassembled for purposessuch as cleaning and repairing, convenience of cleaning beingparticularly important in the food handling business.

Various of the features of the invention are set forth in the followingclaim.

What is claimed is:

In an apparatus for filling a container with a desired weight of foodproduct and for transporting said container unidirectionally through afilling and weighing zone, the combination of 1) a stationary weighingscale having a depressible load-receiving platform located in said zone,

(2) a track extending to and through said filling zone and including,

(a) a pair of spaced stationary outer sections and (b) a generallyhorizontal depressible weighing section positioned in the space betweensaid outer sections,

(3) a supporting structure having a lower part fixedly mounted on theplatform, and an upwardly extending part secured to said weighingsection and supporting said weighing section at an elevationsubstantially higher than the said lower part of the structure,

(4) a carrier for detachably supporting a container for said foodproduct,

(5) said carrier being movable from one of said outer sections onto theweighing section for weighing the filled container and thence off theweighing section and onto the other outer section of the track after theweighing operation has been completed, and

(6) means positioning the upper end of said structure so that saidweighing section is at all times substantially aligned with said outersections, while offering substantially no resistance to the depressionof said platform under load.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,112,914 Kendall Oct. 6, 1914 2,000,958 Jarrier May 14, 1935 2,009,018Flanagan July 23, 1935 2,471,711 Altenpohl May 31, 1949 2,580,993 BrownIan. 1, 1952 2,757,894 Kindseth Aug. 7, 1956 2,922,612 Bulls Jan. 26,1960

